ElevenLabs' CEO avoids ineffective delegation by first immersing himself in a new function (like sales or legal). This allows him to understand the fundamentals, which is crucial for assessing and hiring the right expert leader for that role.

A new CEO’s first few months are best spent gathering unfiltered information directly from employees and customers across the business. Avoid the trap of sitting in an office listening to prepared presentations. Instead, actively listen in the field, then act decisively based on those firsthand insights.

The CEO role is not a joyful or fun job; it's a high-pressure, problem-solving position. Founders who love their craft, like software engineering, often take the CEO title out of necessity to solve a larger problem and bring a vision to life, not because they desire the job itself.

When promoted to CEO internally, your advantage is institutional knowledge, but your disadvantage is a lack of external CEO experience. The key is to be egoless about this gap and proactively construct a leadership team and advisory network with the specific experience you lack.

David Solomon, who describes himself as an 'unlikely CEO,' advises future leaders to concentrate on acquiring a broad range of skills by taking on diverse roles. He suggests focusing on mastering the craft rather than targeting the top job allows for serendipity and a more organic path to leadership.

The core job of a scientist isn't knowing facts, but figuring out what's unknown. This problem-solving 'toolbox'—how to think, act, and work with teams to tackle new problems—is directly transferable to the CEO role, enabling leaders to navigate unfamiliar domains like corporate finance or legal structures.

After failing to hire the right leader for Expedia's largest business unit twice, Dara Khosrowshahi realized he didn't understand the job's requirements. He took on the role himself for several years. This hands-on experience gave him the deep operational understanding needed to finally identify and hire the right person.

The title "CEO" is misleading. A founder's real job is to be a firefighter, constantly on call to handle unexpected crises, from employee emergencies to losing major clients. This mindset shift from strategic leader to crisis manager better reflects the reality of entrepreneurship and its inherent volatility.

The founder hired an experienced CEO and then rotated through leadership roles in different departments (brand, product, tech). This created a self-designed, high-stakes apprenticeship, allowing him to learn every facet of the business from experts before confidently retaking the CEO role.